13 Times Cultural Differences Resulted In Hilarious Brand Fails

What happens when the best of global brands are confronted with cultural differences? We see a debacle of sorts.

A highly successful product in one part of the world surprisingly tanks in another. And finally, when the postmortem of the failed brand positioning is done ¨C one understands the amusing misunderstandings that have a serious impact on the product in the region once and forever. Whether it's hurting religious sentiments or mere translations, these brands failed miserably. Take a look at 13 famous brands that were embroiled in cultural conflicts.

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1. In 1988, the General Electrical Company (GEC) and the British company Plessey merged to create new corporation GPT for GEC-Plessey Telecommunications. However, they were not seen as a serious competition in France where GPT is pronounced j'ai p¨¦t¨¦ in French meaning 'I farted'.

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2. In order to appeal to first class customers, Braniff International airlines created a campaign to promote their finely upholstered seats. But it backfired after their slogan ¡®Fly in Leather¡¯ when translated into Spanish became ¡®Fly Naked.¡¯

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3. Toyota¡¯s Fiera proved controversial in Puerto Rico, where ¡®fiera¡¯ translates to ¡®ugly old woman¡¯.

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4. Ford¡¯s Pinto failed to make an impact in the Brazilian market. The reason behind its flop was the name ¡®Pinto' which translated to ¡®small penis or tiny male genitals¡¯ in Brazilian Portuguese slang.

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5. Coors beer had a tough time in Spain when they invented a mascot called BeerWolf. In order to market their beers, they heavily relied on the slogan ¡®Turn it loose¡¯ which unfortunately meant ¡®You will suffer from diarrhea¡¯ in the native language.

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6. Pepsi would not have seen this coming their way in the Chinese market when they promoted their campaign with the tagline 'Come alive with the Pepsi generation'. This slogan came out as ¡®Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead¡¯. It's a soft drink, not some magic potion.

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7. When the Honda Fitta was introduced to Nordic countries in 2001, it quickly had to rename the brand to Honda Jazz as Fitta translated to ¡®female genitalia¡¯.

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8. Mitsubishi 'Pajero' also bit the dust as the sport utility vehicle faced embarrassment in Spain over its naming convention. The word ¡®Pajero¡¯ is slang for ¡®masturbator¡¯.

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9. Chicken-man Frank Perdue's slogan "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken" got terribly mangled in another Spanish translation. A photo of Perdue with one of his birds appeared on billboards all over Mexico with a caption that explained "It takes a hard man to make a chicken aroused."

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10. Sega, the Japanese electronics giant, paid several million dollars for the right to put its name on the Italian soccer team Sampdoria¡¯s jerseys. Poor chaps - they became the laughing stock because the word ¡®Sega¡¯ meant ¡®masturbation¡¯ in Italian.

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11. In 1987, when Kentucky Fried Chicken opened its first outlet in Beijing, its slogan ¡®finger-lickin' good¡¯ was incorrectly translated as ¡®eat your fingers off.¡¯

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12. General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova in Latin America but were appalled by the fact that it bombed. They soon realised their folly when someone pointed that ¡®Nova¡¯ translates to ¡®It doesn¡¯t go¡¯ in Spanish. Clearly not an ideal car for one to possess.

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13. Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in Mexico with the slogan supposed to say ¡®It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you.¡¯ Instead the ads, due to a translation goof-up, said ¡®It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.¡¯

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When it comes to globalising a brand, the formula of one-size-fits-all is not the safest bet. With tons of money and a brand at stake, a little research about the culture and language would not hurt.

Cover image courtesy forbes.com